At the March Board of Education meeting, Chief HR Officer Erin Williams presented a review of the district’s background check procedures for candidates for employment. The review showed that 1,475 Fort Zumwalt staff members were hired before July 2018, when the Missouri State Highway Patrol “Rap Back” system went into effect. The Rap Back system provides continuous, real-time criminal history monitoring and notifies the district of any new arrests or fingerprinting for those in its database.
Williams notified the Board that the roughly 1,400 employees are required to be fingerprinted for the Rap Back system before the first day of school next August, at an expense of about $66,000 to the district.
"For approximately 1,400 employees (myself included), the background check was a 'snapshot'— a one-time examination of criminal history at the time of hire without ongoing notification," Superintendent Dr. Henry St. Pierre said in a letter to all staff explaining the change. "Closing this gap is a critical step in improving the safety of our schools for every student and staff member."
Affected employees have been notified of the procedure and have already begun updating their background checks.